Latest from the Wine Blog

Dear Readers, I have launched a new blog called wine-chronicles.com. Connections to Wine will continue to exist for the time being on the Internet, but static. To consult my new wine blogging, please go to http://www.wine-chronicles.com. Thanks, Panos

23 to 25 March 2014 will see ProWein 2014 open its doors again in Düsseldorf. Some 4,700 exhibitors from 50 countries will be presenting wines and spirits from throughout the world. The comprehensive ranges on display will be complemented by an equally diverse programme of events. It all started 20 years ago, and today ProWein is billed […]

By Panos Kakaviatos Greetings wine lovers. You may have noticed that I am posting less on Connections to Wine. I plan to launch a new website, Wine-Chronicles.com, in the near future. Meantime, I have posted reflections on barrel samples from the 2013 en primeur tastings and you can find these notes and thoughts on the […]

23 to 25 March 2014 will see ProWein 2014 open its doors again in Düsseldorf. Some 4,700 exhibitors from 50 countries will be presenting wines and spirits from throughout the world. The comprehensive ranges on display will be complemented by an equally diverse programme of events. It all started 20 years ago, and today ProWein is billed […]

Dear Readers, I have launched a new blog called wine-chronicles.com. Connections to Wine will continue to exist for the time being on the Internet, but static. To consult my new wine blogging, please go to http://www.wine-chronicles.com. Thanks, Panos

In 2013, in Bordeaux, I convinced the recently named general manager Laurent Dufau of Chateau Calon Segur to come to Washington D.C. to present the wines of this famous estate – apparently the oldest in the Medoc. Long considered a hidden jewel, this 3rd Growth from the famous 1855 Classification of the Medoc and Sauternes […]

Wine Gallery

Why Wine Connections?

First of all, welcome to my now revamped website. My name is Panos Kakaviatos and I love to drink wine. Since the past 10 years, I have been seriously writing about it, and since 2004, I have also organised wine dinners around the world in top hotel restaurants, from the Hyatt in Dubai for Château Mouton Rothschild in November 2008 to The Jefferson in Washington D.C. for Château Palmer in January 2010. If you clicked on the preceding link, you will see that I have started also to create video reports which will become an ever more important part of this website. Later on, I will create winery pages, to feature many Bordeaux châteaux but also estates in Burgundy, the Rhone, Champagne, Alsace and other wine regions. It is all about making connections and my anecdote from February 2008 during a special wine event in London remains relevant. I tasted a 1986 Mouton Rothschild – an $800 bottle of wine – as part of a vertical. Several times. Before the event started, to check each of the 12 bottles to be poured for possible defects and during the tasting, when I eagerly drank, not just sipped and spat. The tasting also featured other fine vintages of this great Bordeaux estate, some as expensive, including the already legendary 2005 and 2000, the popular 2003, a racy 1996 from magnum and a meaty and savory 1989. My connection was Decanter Magazine, which organized the event, and for which I occasionally write articles. But anyone could have attended. As I wine lover, I’ll take any connections that come my way, also for wines far less expensive – wines which I can afford with excellent quality-to-price ratios. Wines I will share with you in these pages. Thanks to my experience traveling and tasting, I have established many a wine connection to get you the wine tips you want: from finding that perfect fine wine dinner with the winemaker at a luxurious hotel restaurant to accessing hundreds of pages of copious wine tasting notes, free on this website.

Partly because of the proven health benefits when enjoyed in moderation, partly because it’s a wonderful way to pass the time with friends over a fine meal, wine increasingly fascinates consumers the world over. Cruise ships hire sommeliers – a job I am considering – and wine bars sprout like so many autumn mushrooms from Austin, Texas to Strasbourg, France. New markets in Russia, China and India to take three prominent examples ratchet up prices for popular brands, much to the dismay of many a consumer including your humble servant. And with so many wines being made worldwide – I recently tasted a Chinese wine that resembled a decent Bordeaux blend – choosing wine at stores and restaurants will become an ever more daunting affair. I hope I can help you.

Wine Blog

This is the meat of the website, where you will soon be reading hundreds of tasting notes on wines you may want to purchase.READ MORE

About Me

My name is Panos Kakaviatos.Panos KakaviatosCreate your badge
Born, raised and educated in Washington D.C., I am a trained journalist, having worked for the Associated Press and Agence France Presse among other media. I like to drink wine, too, and so have also developed a wine writing habit, combining these two things.Let's Tweet!Be a wine Facebook Friend!
After earning degrees in Communication (B.A.) and International Political Economy (M.A.), I moved in 1996 to Strasbourg, France, in the heart of Alsatian wine country, where I began an enduring press relations career for an international organization called The Council of Europe. During that time, I joined a wine tasting club… which opened this brave new wine world.
As of April 2010, I am still working at the Council of Europe but take my spare time to taste and talk about wine, write articles and organize wine dinners in Europe and in the United States.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Wine Dinners

Since 2004, I have been organising wine dinners for luxury hotels and private homes, featuring top wines from Bordeaux and other regions.READ MORE

Vineyard Visits

With vast experience and contacts in Bordeaux – and in other French wine regions – I can also organize a tour for you to visit your favorite vineyards, wine and dine on location with the winemakers and taking a tasting course. Please contact me for more details.READ MORE

Blogroll

Adam Lechmere
A great friend and editor, Adam uses his superb writing skills to describe the wine world with originality and courage
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David White: The Terroirist
I met David in Washington D.C. over a bunch of delicious wines Chez Ian Lipner, a fellow wine lover. David writes with great enthusiasm and covers many different angles from the world of wine. You have to love the title of his blog!
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Dr. Christian Schiller's Wine Blogspot
Christian is a wine lover who used to work at the International Monetary Fund and now devotes his free time to wine writing. He lives between Germany and the US, in Washington DC, where I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2011.
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Harpers Wine & Spirit
Another excellent UK based wine magazine, where you can also read some of my work
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